How Late Were Centre-Dial Maytags Made?

[danemodsandy]

Cybrvanr:

You're not the only one- my mom had 1950's Maytags for years (they came with the house she bought in '74) and she threw them out in favour of a Kenmore electronic space-saver unit.

Feh.

And who knew from eBay in 1989?

 

[rp2813]

Sandy, those machines are absolutely stunning and I'm sure they will work flawlessly for you for a long time. Excellent news about not having the halo from hell--I had an early 70's electric and the coil broke and nearly started the whole dryer on fire as it was using the cabinet as the coil. I couldn't get near the thing and had to trip the main breaker to the house to shut the machine off. That dryer's similar vintage gas replacement was a jewel and never a problem. It just got used to death, it was efficient, smooth and quiet but went out with a blood-curdling screeching when the time came. Good luck, those machines will serve you better than anything you could buy new today.

 

[geextrarinse]

And they're BACK!

Though nothing will ever come close to the beauty of an orig. maytag - look at the new center dial versions of the maypools/ whirltags...

 

[danemodsandy]

Hmm...

Wonder what's under the hood, though. Prolly an electronic timer and assorted temp-limiting gizmos.

I will say that it's nice-looking, like an early 1950s machine.

 

[charbee]

re: And they're BACK!

Sorry to be such a purist, but GACK! It looks like a StarWars Evil Empire storm trooper.

All that Nasty Plastic...you can almost smell all the electronic doodads that will probably burn out after two months of occassional use...

"Maytag, why hast thou foraken us?"

 

[mistereric]

~I~ was saying boo-urns!

A cycle timer in the middle of the control panel a "center-dial-maytag" does NOT make.

Where are the pushbuttons? Why are the other dials not mounted on either side of the timer, for the sake of visual balance and symmetry? And what of the dial markings riding around on the timer dial? Must we forsake this for silkscreened gray text?

Sorry. I don't think this machine is handsome at all. This isn't something I want staring back at me from my laundry nook (should I ever have one.) Where the heck is the chrome, anyway?

Bhua! Nice try, guys. Too much Whirlpool, too little Maytag.

 

[bongobro]

Center-dial Maytags

I remember attending a home show in St. Louis in the winter of 1980-81 and Maytag had just launched the new right-side-dial and pushbutton combos; I got what apparently was a salesman's brochure explaining how the new design was even more dependable than the center-dial "New Generation" series they replaced.

The "New Generation" models were launched in 1966-67, so Maytag got almost 15 years out of that series, which was an update of the original center-dial models which I first remember seeing in a neighbor's basement about 1957 or 1958.

(Between you and me, GEExtraRinse, that new center-dial model in the picture looks like the timer has already burnt out and warped the back panel. It has as much in common with the real center-dial Maytags as a cheap chocolate-flavored cigar has in common with a real Cuban cigar!)

 

[johnb300m]

guys, you're never going to get what Maytag used to be. Just be glad they're still around.
I LOVE Maytag, but admit it, the stuff they were producing as of late was shit!
I must give Whirlpool credit for trying to revive this brand before it loses all credibility. Whirlpool's mechanisms are ho-hum, but they are WAY more reliable than the native Maytag crap. This move, though not a total throwback to the good ole days, will definately rekindle customers' with Maytag and the quality it used to stand for.

Just be glad Haier didn't buy them.